Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said that Russia is preparing to launch new attacks in eastern Ukraine and take the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
Russia was attacking the towns of Rubizhne and Popasna in the Luhansk region, Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said, adding that they were aiming to push through to Severodonetsk.
Severodonetsk has served as the Luhansk region’s administrative center since the city of Luhansk was taken over by pro-Russian separatists in 2014.
Meanwhile, Luhansk governor Sergiy Gaiday said that Russia was preparing to attack the region and urged a mass evacuation.
“We understand that they are preparing for a full-scale big breakthrough,” Gaiday said.
“Please don’t wait for your homes to be bombed,” he said, urging residents to evacuate.
A senior US official said that Russian forces were “repositioning” in a bid to conquer parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Russia is repositioning its forces to concentrate its offensive operations in eastern and parts of southern Ukraine,” US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said.
“Russia has tried to subjugate the whole of Ukraine and it has failed. Now it will attempt to bring parts of the country under its rule,” the US official added.
Sullivan said that this repositioning may mark a new phase in the war in Ukraine that could “be measured in months or longer.”
British, Ukrainian foreign ministers condemn Bucha ‘war crimes’
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said it was “very clear” that war crimes had been committed in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference in Poland, she said, “We are all appalled by the scenes in Bucha, the butchery, the clear evidence of sexual crime, of the targeting of innocent civilians and it is very clear that war crimes have taken place.”
Speaking on the same stage, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for tougher sanctions on Russia.
“The horrors that we’ve seen in Bucha are just the tip of the iceberg of all the crimes (that) have been committed by the Russian Army,” Kuleba said.
“Half measures are not enough any more. I demand most severe sanctions this week, this is the plea of the victims of the rapes and killings. If you have doubts about sanctions go to Bucha first,” he added.
Russian troops need ‘significant re-equipping and refurbishment’
British military intelligence said Russian forces would need “significant re-equipping and refurbishment” before they could be redeployed in Ukraine.
In its latest intelligence update, the British Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces were retaking key terrain in the north after forcing Russia to retreat.
Moscow’s troops were pulling out of areas north of Kyiv and Chernihiv in the north of Ukraine.
It said low-level fighting might continue while forces are withdrawing.
Zelenskyy says talks with Russia after Bucha challenging but necessary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the possibility of holding more talks with Russia was very challenging, but there was no other option.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Zelenskyy added that a face-to-face meeting between him and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin does not look likely.
The Ukrainian leader said the killings in Bucha showed the phrase “needing denazification,” which Putin used as justification for the invasion, applies more to Russia than to Ukraine.
He repeated that his country would need security guarantees as part of any peace settlement.
Zelenskyy said the Ukraine and Russia would not be able to agree on all points over Donbas at once but should work on it.
